There has been a change in venue for Saturday’s Alexander Asics Invitational cross country meet.

The huge annual event has been moved from its normal home at the McIntosh Nature Preserve to Clinton Farms due to continued problems from last week’s major flooding at McIntosh which sits on the bank of the Chattahoochee River.

“We tried earlier this week, but the fields down there are just a mess. There was no way be could hold a meet there,” said Alexander coach Brian Robinson.

Only a few varsity teams have dropped out, leaving the field at around 40 varsity teams, plus seven middle schools.

Due to the smaller venue, Robinson has divided the varsity squads into two divisions, with the most competitive teams running in the red division. The top varsity boys teams will run at 8:30 a.m., with the top varsity girls race set for 9:05 a.m.

“We attempted to divide the teams into competitive divisions,” said Robinson. “Then, we’ll have a packed junior varsity race, with so many runners in both the boys and girls divisions.”

The most exciting race could be the first event where Lakeside-Evans and McIntosh are expected to challenge Alexander for the team honors.

“It’s time for our boys to step it up. In the latest poll we are ranked behind both Lakeside-Evans and McIntosh and we should be able to beat both of them,” said Robinson.

If AHS is to win the event they’ll need strong showings from top runners like Weston Smallwood, Josh Clay and Trey Gray. Justin McManis and Chad Starnes are often in the Cougars’ top five. The AHS boys have been ranked as high as No. 4 in the State AAAA polls this season.

Several other top boys teams including Blessed Trinity and Athens Christian are in the boys’ red field.

“I believe our boys are ready to run well. It’s time for them to break out and run like they are capable,” added Robinson.

The Peachtree Ridge girls are one of the top teams in the red girls’ race.

Alexander’s Lady Cougars need a strong effort to hope to move into the top 10 in the state rankings.

Following Saturday’s major event, Alexander will compete in the Multi-County Invitational on Oct. 20 and the Region 5-AAAA Meet on Oct. 31, both at Clinton Farms.

Asics Invitational

at Clinton Farms

Saturday’s schedule

8:30 a.m. - Boys varsity red division

9:05 - Girls varsity red division

9:45 - Boys varsity

10:20 - Girls varsity

Note: Junior varsity boys, JV girls, open and middle school races will follow.